The Use of Social Media as a Tool to Engage Parents in Rural and Hard to Serve
Communities
Ministry of Children and Youth Services
Community Action Research
2012/2013 INNOVATION FUND
“to start having these discussions now so that we can move forward with it rather than continuing to bury our heads in the sand”
Focus group participant, Feb. 6th
Prepared for: Lanark County Planning Council for Children, Youth, and Families
Every Kid in Our Communities (Leeds-Grenville)
March 31, 2013
Colleen Grady, Research Consultant
Executive Summary
The Use of Social Media as a Tool to Engage Parents in Rural and Hard to Serve Communities was sponsored by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services as an Innovation Fund project. The project was spawned by an identified lack of information and understanding about how to proceed with social media by the member agencies of Lanark County Planning Council for Children, Youth and Families, and Every Kid in Our Communities in Leeds-Grenville. This project was short-term (three months) in nature however provided ample opportunity for engagement and discussion with agency staff, both front-line and management as well as with parents and some youth as to the challenges and opportunities that social media as a communication tool can provide.
Data was collected through focus groups, interviews and at training days and provides evidence that most parents and youth are currently using social media to communicate and access information, whereas most agencies in the tri-county area have not embraced these tools due to lack of in-house expertise, knowledge of resource commitment and concerns about privacy and confidentiality. Primarily, however, research indicates that both the development of a communications (and social media) strategy AND support from executive management are two key success factors preceding the need for relevant resources.
To support management of social media in agencies, a policy template and sample policies are provided. Considerations for recruiting social media staff have also been included.
Sustaining the momentum of this project will be dependent on being able to capitalize on the lessons learned throughout and the continued discussions that must take place with the dissemination of the information and resources provided with this report. Evaluation of an action research project continues with community efforts to make changes to that way business is currently being done to incorporate new and innovative ways to engage clients, with social media being one such opportunity. Often, however, initial discomfort exists when opening one’s self up to a ‘new world’, and social media undeniably represents a new world that is here and now and unlikely to disappear and its’ capacity to engage clients in new ways is its’ ultimate value.
Contents
Executive Summary
Introduction
The Rural Perspective
The ‘hard-to-engage’
Research Design and Process
An action research project
Qualitative and quantitative methods
Focus group research
Individual interviews
Data Collection and Analysis
Agency Focus Groups
Agency Interviews
Management group
Front-line group
Figure 1.0
Agency Interviews - Additional
Parent and Youth Focus Groups
Agency staff training days
Figure 2.0
Research Findings
Barriers to entry and facilitators for success
Developing a social media strategy
Policies, procedures and protocols
Internal Staff Policy Development
User Guidelines
Disclaimers
Protocols:
Social Media Policy Template
Recruitment of social media staff
Staffing levels
Job posting
Relevant competencies
Selecting candidates to interview
Interview process
Assessing technical skills
Reference checking
Probationary period
Project Sustainability
Evaluating Social Media
Social Media Project – Evaluation Framework
Recommendations
References and resources
Appendix A – Sample Policies
Introduction
Social media use by all sectors is increasingly becoming an effective method to reach clients. The data gathering in this project indicates that most parents, youth, and agency staff are adept at using social media therefore inclusion as part of an agency’s communication planning is warranted.
This project, The Use of Social Media as a Tool to Engage Parents in Rural and Hard to Serve Communities was funded by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services as an Innovation Fund 2012-2013 Community Action Research Project and was spearheaded by Every Kid in Our Communities and Lanark County Planning Council for Children, Youth, and Families. A research consultant was hired early January for the project that concluded March 31st with the following expected deliverables:
- Conduct interview with select agencies to determine their use of social media and training needs
- Work with the Centre of Excellence and other agencies to develop template policies and procedures for use of social media
- Research local capacities and trends with regard to access to technology and use of social media
- Recommend core social media/technology competencies for agency staff and a prioritized list of training needs
- Organize training sessions for agency staff
- Produce a final report identifying next steps, an evaluation plan and a sustainability plan
With the submission of this final report, all service deliverables have been completed.
The Rural Perspective
The connectivity capacity of the internet has done much to level the playing field with respect to the differences between how rural families access information and those in urban settings. In fact, if the capacity exists for rural families to use the internet, many would argue that the value of increased connectivity and having information at one’s fingertips helps to lessen the social and geographic isolation often associated with living in rural communities. As more and more individuals use cell phones as their primary source of connecting with family, friends and using the internet for information, the divide between rural families and their urban counterparts differ.
The Eastern Ontario Regional Network is a $170M public-private partnership project that is improving access to high-speed internet across the region covered in this project with the targetof completion by the end of 2013. Their mandate is to provide at least 1.5Mbps to 95% of the households and businesses and 85% of the household and business will receive up to 10Mbps. The technology is a mix of wired, wireless and satellite to allow for a mix of terrain.
An interesting analysis on the impact of broadband use in a small, northern Ontario town identifies how the advent of the internet has altered the ways in with the residents of Chapleau deal with ‘important issues in their lives, managing their money, maintaining their health, shopping, and obtaining information’ (Collins & Wellman, 2010). The authors also reference the value that telemedicine has brought to those geographically isolated, even citing the value of avoiding a collision with a moose only to have to previously travel many hours for a brief consultation or X-ray. Access to broadband technology and the increased use of cellphones and mobile access to information provides a scenario that community agencies cannot deny – that clients needing access to services and information are likely to use the internet to do so regardless of where they live and agencies must be visible in the digital world.
The ‘hard-to-engage’
Defining which client populations are considered ‘hard-to-engage’ is a challenge. Addressed above is the notion of rural living and the associated challenges with transportation to agencies and lack of access to the internet are partially addressed. Another population that can be considered ‘hard-to-engage’ is youth and their associated size as a target population is dependent upon each agency at the community planning tables. Regardless of the size of the youth target population, consideration of using social media should be of high importance as, often, youth seeking information online is the most likely avenue over visiting an agency and accessing resources in person, particularly those youth without an adult advocate for needed services. Using multiple media formats is of interest to youth and can engage them in unique ways, often gaining their participation as evidenced by Children’s Mental Health Ontario’s Change the View contest to invite youth designed YouTube videos. This is worth a look and the link is included in the References and Resources section.
Research Design and Process
An action research project
The underlying purpose of action research is the practical problem solving that evolves from the research itself and in close collaboration with the object of the research- the participants. The suitability of this type of research design is particularly relevant when applied to larger groups such as organizations or communities when the process of development or change in addressing a certain problem is just as important as the outcome as the research unfolds. Action research is best identified as a reflective process that places value on the learning that happens when exploring the problem, capitalizing on the transformation of understanding that takes place among the research participants. Action research is highly interactive in nature. This type of research in the context of organizations is favored by those who look for value in the research process, not only leading to practical solutions and of considerable value to ‘the client’ who might be the organization or the community but valuable also for ‘the clients’ who are crafting the solutions. Participants that are involved in action research gain from the learningand develop solutions that can then become embedded in ‘the new way we do things here’, increasing the potential for sustained efforts. Action research is usually not a short-term project type and uses various instruments and methods to gather relevant data.
This project was fittingly termed as action research however some limitations mustbe noted to better understand data capture. As the entire project spanned no more than three months, the ability to generate substantial data and to maximize the process of reflection upon data was very limited. Of particular interest and encouragement was the fact that two neighbouring municipalities joined together in the project, however, any ensuing changes will be less beneficial, although still worthy, if the ‘action’ part of the research is unable to continue to unfold in a cohesive, collaborative way. Regardless, the varying research instruments used have allowed for an analysis using different perspectives, although sample size was small.
Qualitative and quantitative methods
Qualitative methods of data collection included focus groups (5) and individual interviews (8) and open-ended questions used in training day evaluations. Quantitative data was also collected via training day evaluations. A previous survey conducted in December 2012provided some basis for this project and can be considered relevant due to the population sample similarity, primarily using participants from the two community planning tables that sponsored this project. However, the survey data could not be considered baseline for this project as participants were not tracked for subsequent data collection and the primary focus for each approach in collecting data differed. If the December, 2012 survey is repeated in its’ original format in the near future, it is reasonable to expect that the change process stimulated through this action research process may be viewed as an influential factor.
Focus group research
Focus groups were used to inform this research due to their consistency with the purpose of action research which explores issues and attitudes and capitalizes on the collective thoughts and participation of group members. A considerable value in using focus groups is the generative discussions that stem from participants who may not have been familiar with one another prior to the focus group, but who are able to share varying viewpoints related to a common topic. In this case, the topic was to understand what value there may be in using social media to communicate with clients of planning table agencies (primarily parents and/or youth). Analysis of data from focus groups can differ in its’ emphasis. A valid analysis can incorporate the different constructions of viewpoints on a specific topic but could also be related to the context of the discussion and the dynamics based on the interactions that take place. Both types of analysis have been completed in this project.
Individual interviews
Interviews are another valuable research instrument. Using a semi-structured interview was deemed relevant in this type of project, designed to elicit both the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of using social media as part of an agency communication strategy.
Data Collection and Analysis
Agency Focus Groups
Two focus groups that included agency staff were held; one for management staff in Leeds-Grenville and one for front-line staff in Lanark. In total, 16 people attended. Each session lasted an hour and a half, required signed consents from participants and was recorded for transcription purposes.
Due to the nature of having representatives from both those agencies currently using social media and those who are not, some of the themes identify comments that could be seen as both positive and negative in their association. For instance, when referencing ‘resources’,participants noted not just the challenge of being able to manage social media within budget, but also discussed social media as an avenue for raising funds. Also, while ‘interactive capability of social media’ can be of value in terms of connecting with teens that are using this as a form of communication, participants also discussed the challenge that this presents in being able to respond appropriately and in a timely manner.
Agency Interviews
Telephone interviews were conducted with 8 agency-based individuals using both open and closed questions. Due to the small sample size and respective of the similarities in questions with those used in agency-based staff focus groups, where it made sense to do so, data from both personal interviews and focus groups were blended. Additional comments are provided below. Six of those interviewed were senior management.
Management group
Six focus group participants and six individual interviews provided data in Figure 1.0 which represents the themes that emerged and identifies frequency that these were referenced. The following themes were identified by the participants with responses listed in the order of most often to least often with Policy and Confidentiality tied in number of responses and Resources and Service Delivery also tied in the number of responses.
- Information sharing (key purpose/usefulness of social media)
“Would be great from a health promotion perspective to get info out to our clients”
“An advantage for families to learn more about our agency”
- Need for policy/procedures
“At initial stages in utilizing those tools but want to ensure we have effective policies and process in place to ensure that we’re doing it in the right way, so that the outcomes will be what we intended it to be. “
“Concerned that there are no policies in place re: critical issues”
- Confidentiality/privacy concerns
“Definitely confidentiality issues and what if it’s breached in those settings”
“Confidentiality is a big issue for us. We do client work – don’t do universal stuff”
- Time required to manage social media
“Time management, keeping everything up to date and relevant”
“Even keeping our website up to date is a chore –and we don’t do a great job at that”
- Interactivity capability
“Possibly for soliciting feedback on things, but keeping our services and business accessible.”
“Our population is getting younger. We know that to connect with these people we have to be more progressive.”
- Social media used to deliver service
“It’s not just for promotional purposes, it’s actually delivery of service for us. We post avolunteer opportunity on our social media web domain and we find people respond within a day”
- Resources ($$, staff)
“resources to look after it”
“incredibly under-resourced to even consider using social media
Front-line group
Ten focus group participants and two individual interviewsprovided data in Figure 1.0. The following themes were identified by participants with responses listed below in the order of most often to least often.
- Time required to manage social media
“Time to sit down and actually do it”
“Initially Facebook takes a lot of time but then it becomes part of your day”
- Interactivity capability
“We have something happening with kids we share a picture, and we get responses back”
“wide scope of communities you can create and capacity to reach people quickly”
- Information sharing (key purpose/usefulness of social media)
“We work primarily with youth and youth are very tech savvy and it would be a way to get our info across to them in a more efficient manner than what we do now.”
“Used mostly for events – updates, media releases”
- Need for policy/procedures
“Don’t have policy in place”
“management made a policy statement about NOT using social media”
- Confidentiality/privacy concerns
“looking at how many confidentiality or privacy issues there were”
- Social media used to deliver services
“Reaching different age groups – the male population that’s one of the things that comes up . Facebook gives you who you’re serving – we’re reaching 27% of males”
- Resources ($$, staff)
“We are actually doing some pretty big work with social media – purchased social media software for our donations, through the website, through Facebook. Main use is fundraising first”